A Woman's Heart
by JeffC FTW
Summary: Why did he have to do it? He sacrificed himself for his family and their world. He would forever be hailed a hero. He was still in her hopes, on her mind, but she would manage and survive. Only a woman's heart can know. Fifth in the Monkey Fist Saga.


**After a year, it's time I finished my Monkey Fist Saga. This takes place before "The Monkey King Takes His Queen" begins, and we finally see Ron's funeral as well as deal with Kim's attempts to cope with her husband's death and raising their daughter. Grab your Kleenex and prepare for feels.**

 **I love Kim/Ron very much - as much as I ship Kim/Monty and Shego/Monty (another series for the pair I did) - so if anyone has anything to flame me for this, I have cold water ready for any foul language or death threats.**

 **I do NOT own Kim Possible or the song within this oneshot which is also named after. The version I heard was by Celtic Woman, one of my favorite groups.**

 _Why - why did he have to do this to himself? To her and their child?!_

"...there was no way to deactivate it beforehand! Wade couldn't even get a way to turn it off, either, and the more time passes, the less chance you have to survive. You must go on without me, and tell Sara her daddy loved her..."

 _"RON!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, running to his side just as he collapsed. The explosion was powerful; he absorbed the blast himself with the simian powers that he accidentally acquired when he faced off one of their greatest enemies so long ago, for the first time. And it was the power of a monkey, the very thing he feared most. He just HAD to do this, didn't he? Why couldn't there have been another way?_

 _He looked up at her with that horrid glaze in his warm chocolate eyes. The very first time she looked into them was when they were both five years old, first when she walked into the classroom with her own daddy holding her hand, and he'd waved to her, making her freckled cheeks blush. Then when the class picture was taken...and finally he offered to play ball with her at recess. She had been the new girl at the time and he the clownish outcast with no playmate. Fate had played a silent hand when neither of them knew it._

 _Going to the same schools all their lives, except summer camp when he was forced to be away from her, to try and expand his social circle but useless._

 _Entering a relationship when Drakken used her heart against her in his plans - then nearly ending that wonderful time because of a mistake she made, purposefully kept hidden from him long before they got together, but patched it up with time and effort._

 _Getting married right after college and having their first child - their_ only _child now. Becoming a chef and an archaeologist, odd but wonderfully balanced. "Middleton is...saved."_

 _"You did it, Ron," Kim told him, running gloved fingers through his hair, massaging the back of his scalp. "And it was all you."_

 _Her body shook when his did, because the cells within were going into overdrive. Any moment now. "Yeah, I suppose I did...but that doesn't mean I'll be leaving this place alive...I'm so sorry," he rasped. He thought that because he was dying, he realized what he had done to his family, but no. She would not let him die like this. Not after everything they had been through together; it would NOT end like this if she had anything to say about it!_

 _Kim fiercely cupped his face with the same hand she'd used to rub his skull. "No, don't you dare apologize. You did the right thing."_

 _"I sacrificed myself for you, for Sara - and for everyone in Middleton." With each word and passing second, Ron's condition worsened in the new features of his complexion. His flesh paled, his veins and nerves jutting through. "At least I will be called a hero just like you, and everyone will remember me for this. And I got to see you one last time...but I wish I could see Sara once more. I meant it, Kim. I love you both." Those were the last words he would ever say to her, and the three simple words always heard were hers to finish as well as a kiss as he died in her arms. Her husband of three years, the father of her little girl, and her lifelong best friend who helped her save the world one last time._

 _Kimberly Ann Stoppable would never be able to continue that mission without the one she just lost._

~o~

Another person would say that this kind of death was cruel, that it should have been in bed beside the one he loved in old age instead of too soon, with a toddler daughter who needed both parents in her life, and the widow herself agreed. He shouldn't have died like that, but it was also appropriate as it hailed Ronald Stoppable a hero as much as she was. The papers could never stop reporting it since she brought the body home in a daze. She avoided talking to the press altogether. She went straight home to Middleton.

Nothing else mattered but their daughter who needed her more than ever. Left behind was also Rufus who had seen the death of his master and suffered as much as she did, unable to stop bawling even as they arrived to tell both her family as well as Ron's - and then the little girl who had her father's hair as well as her mother's face and eyes. The latter had been the hardest thing to do ever.

Sara Jessica Stoppable was three years old when she lost her daddy. The one who always personally made her birthday cakes, let her have monkey toys despite it still being a terrible childhood fear of his, and even was home with her while her mother was busy at the museum and traveling for the latest artifacts. Having a career and independence was wonderful, but having a family to return to was another level of bliss.

But that happiness was butchered forever by one Professor Dementor. He threatened all of Middleton one last time by planting the bomb that would have taken all in the town out in a single moment - but Ron saved them and put his life on the line. He would be remembered and loved for it. And here she was now, in her black velvet dress and with her little girl in her lap, crying with her, and Rufus was blowing his nose out with as many tissues as he could get. White calla lilies and roses framed the ever beaming face of the man of the day as they sat through the services, with _You Raise Me Up_ cutting through the hearts of all. Sara held onto her mother and kept asking her, "Daddy isn't coming back?" She could never stop pleading, hoping this was all a nightmare they could wake up from. If only it were true.

"No, sweetie," Kim whispered, kissing the top of the pale golden head. "Daddy won't be back...but he'll be watching over us, always." She nodded upwards to the skies where Ron was, no doubt, keeping his loving eye on his wife, daughter and naked mole rat who would last another two decades at most.

When the funeral was over, Ron ended up as ashes now, placed in an urn of rich green etched with golden lotuses surrounding the epitaph:

 **Ronald Stoppable**

 **Loving Brother, Son, Husband and Father**

 **1988-2014**

 **"He died as he lived, in his wife's arms"**

Kim was given the urn and held it close to her, all she had left of him. She closed her eyes and squeezed them shut, trying to hold back the tears that burned the corners of her eyes. Behind her, Sara was held in the arms of Anne, with James and the twins behind him. Along were Ron's parents and Hana, now eight. Monique was there, and so were Drakken, Shego and their young daughters. They were all here to let her know she wasn't alone. She certainly wouldn't push them away. As for her in-laws, they were also all she had left of Ron as she'd known them since she was a child. Hana had been adopted, so this family was all she'd ever known.

Sara looked at the urn as they drove home; her mother put it in the front seat for Rufus to hold onto even as it lay down on its side. "That's Daddy now?" she asked, biting her bottom lip. Kim nodded without a response and started the car, changing the subject instantly.

"Let's go home and change. Then we can get ice cream and come right back, okay?" It was still the day of Ron's memorial, so there would be no fun to be had so soon, but something sweet would make their daughter and herself feel better only for awhile. Tomorrow she was going to start thinking about the future. She always knew it would come someday soon.

The song playing in the car soothed a little only to make the wounds worse.

 _My heart is low, my heart is so low_

 _As only a woman's heart can be_

 _As only a woman's, as only a woman's_

 _As only a woman's heart can know_

Kim wished she could turn it off, but she had no will. She looked in the rearview mirror to see Sara curled into herself, falling asleep instantly, and then at Rufus who was laying spread out and looking at nothing in particular. When they reached a stoplight, she reached over and gently rubbed the rodent's stomach, making him giggle a little before bursting into more tears. She swallowed and took a few deep breaths, suppressing more cries as hard as she could.

 _The tears that drip_

 _From my bewildered eyes_

 _Taste of bittersweet romance_

 _You're still in my hopes_

 _You're still on my mind_

 _And even though I manage on my own_

They arrived at the house in no time, just as the clouds obscured the sky and began to darken. For a moment she considered calling off the sweet treat before deciding against it. She reminded herself for the umpteenth time that Sara needed something after sitting through hours of tissues, speeches and then getting the urn that held her father's ashes.

The child was just waking up when Kim parked the car. "Ready, honey?" she asked gently. She received a tired nod and rub of the eyes before she walked around the car to open the back and unbuckle the little girl, lifting her out and carrying her. Rufus trailed after them into the house.

A house that was now missing one person, filled with only photographic memories and painful mementos on the tables. And an empty spot in the master bed upstairs.

 _When restless eyes_

 _Reveal my troubled soul_

 _And memories flood my weary heart_

 _I mourn for my dreams_

 _I mourn for my wasted love_

 _And while I know that I'll survive alone_

Later that night, the rain began to pour harder. Here Kim Stoppable was in her sleeveless nightdress, feeling like a small girl again, alone - physically but not spiritually. She had put Sara down an hour ago but couldn't sleep. She was going to call in sick tomorrow to think as planned, spend more time with the little one, but she didn't want to think about anything. Fate was cruel now to let her think too much tonight. Tomorrow and after was filled with uncertainty, but Kim Possible could do anything. If she could do anything, Kim _Stoppable_ could do anything. She wasn't a teenage heroine who happily accepted help in need anymore; she was a grown woman who had just lost her husband and had a young daughter to look after now.

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the glass, the cold chill running up her spine as she ignored the bed she would now sleep in alone. The only one to fill that empty spot was Rufus who was curled up into the pillow where his master used to sleep. If she was lucky, she might not ever marry again. Two men had been in her life. One was paying for his sins in another world, another a handful of ashes following a noble effort for his family and the world. Nobody could tell her to find love again if she didn't want to. She wouldn't be surprised if her family and friends would someday get her to try and move on with her life.

"Only a woman's heart can know," Kim whispered, laying one hand in her lap and bringing the other to place over that part of her body. The beat was normal as could be, in tune with the rain pelting the glass, but aching beyond measure.

 **If anyone is familiar with the song "You Raise Me Up", I don't know if I thought of Josh Groban's version or Celtic Woman's, but you guys can think however you want.**

 **Like I said, this is the latest in the Monkey Fist Saga, so read my profile if anyone is interested to see the others before and after this one. Reviews are absolutely appreciated. :'( It was hard to write emotionally.**


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